Floor mats of many diverse designs have been developed for utilization in automotive vehicles, particularly passenger cars, and are currently extensively utilized for protection of the carpeted floor areas of automotive vehicles and specifically those areas associated with the front seat. These floor mats have been produced in various styles, designs and configurations with major style categories being either a single mat extending across the entire width of the vehicle and termed a full mat or a pair of mats designated as twin mats wherein separate mats are provided at each of the respective sides of the vehicle. The floor mat construction of this invention is specifically directed to the twin style mat, although it does have application to other styles of mat configurations.
A twin style mat for the front seat area of a passenger car has a basic dimensional configuration such that it is of a length to extend forwardly over at least the lower portion of what is often designated as the fire wall or engine compartment wall which is usually upwardly inclined in a forward direction. Also, these mats are often of a dimensional width such that the opposite longitudinal edge portions at each side of the mat project a sufficient distance laterally to extend up over the central tunnel that exists in many vehicles as well as to project upwardly adjacent the side sill adjacent a door area. Obviously, in the case of vehicles that do not have a central tunnel, the edge portion of the mat disposed adjacent the center area of the vehicle will merely project over the central, substantially flat floor surface. In the case of mats designed for placement in the rear passenger seat area, such mats are of a design configuration that normally does not project forwardly in the manner of the front mats, but they often include longitudinal side portions that do extend over the tunnel or upwardly adjacent the side sill of the vehicle. Depending upon the particular vehicle and relative size of a floor mat selected for that vehicle, it may be that the floor area is sufficiently large such that the mat will only occupy a flat surface area.
It is particularly important to design the floor mats so that they will tend to stay in a desired and selected position in the vehicle regardless of whether the floor surface is totally flat or has upwardly projecting surface portions. To achieve that objective, floor mats as heretofore designed have usually incorporated a multiplicity of relatively short, conically-shaped projections, or nibs, that were integrally formed with the mat and projected downwardly from a lower or bottom surface of the mat. Since most mats are of a design construction that embodies molding of the mat from a rubber or plastic composition, it has been relatively easy to form those nibs. The function of these nibs, and these nibs are relatively short and may only be of the order of one-sixteenth inch in length, is to project into the carpet floor covering of the vehicle and thereby form a mechanical interengagement that is intended to retain the floor mat in a selected position. However, the nibs that have heretofore been provided for that purpose have been found to be substantially less effective than desired because of the relatively short length of those nibs. The short length prevents the nibs from penetrating to any significant depth in the carpet and thus the mat must rely primarily on surface friction for the maintenance of the mat in the desired position. It is not feasible to form the nibs of any substantial length for increased penetration and better holding capability since those nibs would then either be relatively thin or relatively thick and most likely not readily penetrate the relatively close fiber pile construction of the conventional carpet surfacing. In fact, long, thin nibs would not only fail to readily penetrate a conventional fiber pile because of greater flexibility, but that flexibility would significantly reduce their effectivity in holding the mat against laterally directed forces.
As a consequence of the failure of the nibs to effect an adequate mechanical interengagement with the underlying carpet, and the lack of any other significant surface frictional forces, the floor mats heretofore provided have a strong tendency to shift and move laterally over the carpet surfacing in the vehicle. Such lateral shifting movement results from sliding movement of a person's feet when positioned on a mat or the development of laterally directed forces applied to a carpet through a person's feet while entering or exiting the vehicle. This is highly undesirable in that the mat not only loses its neat looking appearance, but additionally, it frequently will shift into position where it does not protect the floor carpet and, in the case of the driver's station, can easily move into interfering relationship with operating and control components of the vehicle such as the accelerator, light switches, and similar type elements.
The foregoing discussion is directed to floor mats intended for use with vehicles having carpeted floors and it will be readily apparent that mats provided with nibs on their bottom surfaces will not be particularly effective with smooth or hard faced surfaces. While no mat structures or designs are known to exist to improve resistance to lateral displacement over such a floor surface, the problem is not of great significance because there is not the great need to attempt protecting such floor surfaces as in the case of carpeted floors.